On Saturday, May 24, FRCC is sponsoring a tour of private gardens in the Portland metropolitan area. The seven gardens will be open from 10 am to 4 pm. All of the garden owners happen to be members of the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection, and you will see everything from gardens with just a few well-chosen clematis to gardens very much afflicted with “a vine madness”, including the garden of RCC’s curator, Linda Beutler, garden designer Lucy Hardiman, and for the first time, the garden of Susan Toler, FRCC’s recording secretary. This tour is a fund-raiser for FRCC, so we hope you will enjoy the tour and bring your gardening friends!

There will be clematis for sale at one eastside garden and one westside garden. (As our curator always says, “Shop early and shop often!”). The collection itself, at Luscher Farm, will not be open during this event.

Tickets are $20.00, and garden descriptions and directions are included with each. You may buy tickets on-line here at the FRCC website, or, after April 15th, at the following area nurseries:

Bethany Nursery (NW 185th)
Farmington Gardens (SW Farmington Rd. Aloha, OR)
Garden Fever (NE Portland at 24th & Fremont)
Joy Creek Nursery* (Watson Road in Scappoose, OR)
Lake Oswego Dennis’ 7-Dees Nursery (just 1/2 mile from Luscher Farm, on McVey)
Portland Nursery (5050 SE Stark St. location only)

*join FRCC at Joy Creek Nursery for our Spring Clematis Celebration, from 9 am to 5 pm, Sunday April 27, 2008. Special guest presenter: Brewster Rogerson at 1:00 pm. Discounted clematis for FRCC members, and lots of fun and information for everyone! Come admire the early-flowering clematis.

It has been a very slow spring, dark and rainy and chilly at night, so the clematis are slowing down instead of speeding up. Still, the montana group in the greenhouse is nearly on time, and the ultra hardy Atragene Group (alpina, macropetala, koreana and their near cousins) are bang on time.

On the front bank:
Clematis hirsutissima
C. hirsutissima var. scotti

Inside the greenhouse:
New Zealanders
AVALANCHE
‘Early Sensation’
‘Lunar Lass’
marmoraria
‘Purity’
Montana Group
‘Brewster’
‘Elizabeth’
‘Fragrant Spring’
‘Freda’
var. glabrescens
var. glabrescens ‘Natalie Cottrell’
‘Jacqui’
‘Mayleen’
‘Picton’s Variety’ (pictured)
‘Pink Perfection’
‘Rubens Superba’
‘Vera’
‘Warwickshire Rose’

Large-Flowered Hybrids
‘Betty Risdon’
‘Corona’
‘Dawn’
‘Guernsey Cream’
‘John Warren’
‘Mrs. P. B. Truax’
‘Will Barron’

Atragene Group (on the terrrace):
‘Ballet Skirt’
‘Blue Bird’
‘Blue Dancer’
‘Blue Jay’
‘Blushing Ballerina’ (syn. ‘Alborosea’)
‘Claudius’ (syn. ‘Citra’)
‘Clochette Pride’ (syn. ‘Campanulina Plena’)
‘Columella’
‘Constance’
‘Esprit’
‘Foxy’
‘Frances Rivis’
‘Frankie’
‘G. Steffner’
‘Jan Lindmark’
koreana var. fragrans
‘Propertius’
‘Riga’
‘Ruby’
‘Wesselton’
‘Willy’

Historic Garden:
C. koreana (two forms)

The arrival of Spring at the Rogerson Clematis Collection coincides with the handsome donation of four stock plants of Clematis armandii ‘Hendersonii Rubra’ (syn. of C. ‘Hendersonii Rubra’) given by Bob Gutmann of Gutmann Nurseries. Bob and his wife Carol are C. armandii specialists, and they have grown and evaluated many forms to assess garden worthiness. After years of observation, the Gutmann’s feel that ‘Hendersonii Rubra’ is not significantly different from C. armandii ‘Apple Blossom’, so they will not be propagating it for resale. Last autumn, Bob and Carol donated their remaining gallon-sized plants of ‘Hendersonii Rubra’, which FRCC sold rapidly.

The history of ‘Hendersonii Rubra’ is rather vague. It is possible that it was originally found as a species variant in China by E.H. Wilson, which he would have called Clematis armandii ‘Rubra’, but this has not been verified. The plant resurfaced at Henderson’s Experimental Garden, in Clovis, CA, where it was given its current name, which, by the way, is not an acceptable name under the current rules of nomenclutter. Since the mid-1950s it has been nomenclaturally “illegal” to use Latin in cultivar names. If they had called it “Henderson’s Pink” or some such, they’d have been okay. An allowable name has not been chosen, but if documentation could prove that this is Wilson’s C. armandii ‘Rubra’, then the name ‘Hendersonii Rubra’ would be relegated to the status of synonym. (Now you know what garden curators are up against!)

FRCC has donated one of these plants to the City of Lake Oswego for placement in one of their parks (in exchange for some historic roses), and we will keep and plant the remaining three specimens, which are quite vigorous and ready to GO! We will attempt to divide these plants to develop stock plants of our own, but we imagine this will be a “collector’s plant” without a lot of demand. We will have plants of ‘Snowdrift’ and ‘Apple Blossom’ for sale at the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s spring plant sale, at the Portland Expo Center, April 12-13. See our link to HPSO for more information about this amazing plant sale.

As for the rest of the collection, our larger plants of Clematis cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’ are only now opening their last buds—they have had an amazing winter. Also, Clematis armandii (Chikuma form) has opened its white and dainty flowers in the greenhouse, although the plant installed in the garden last autumn is growing well but has chosen not to flower this year. Our recent influx of Helleborus x hybridus plants from Nancy Gronowski have well-survived their transplanting from her garden to ours, and Brewster’s modest Pulsatilla vulgaris collection is beginning to bloom on the front bank. So, although we don’t have any clematis quite in bloom in the display gardens yet, the family Ranunculaceae is well represented this Spring!

—Linda Beutler, curator, Rogerson Clematis Collection

There is absolutely no way around it; rock is heavy. But the results are worth every pound. Below are a couple pictures taken during the recent “Dry Stack Rock Wall” workshop held at the Rogerson Clematis Collection garden.

We were very thankful for one of the first sunny days of the New Year. It was crisp and warm at the same time.

March 8
Pruning Workshop Luscher Farm*
Linda Beutler will demonstrate (and demystify) how and when to prune groups 1, 2, and 3 (A, B, & C). There will be hands on training so bring your sharpened shears and light gloves. Space is limited to 20 people (class will cancel if less than 5). There is a $10.00 fee except to Patrons of FRCC.
Register with Susan Toler sst0916@hotmail.com or (503) 642-5528.

Luscher Farm is located at the corner of Stafford Rd and Rosemont Rd in Lake Oswego/West Linn.

April 12 & 13
Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Spring Plant Sale
Portland EXPO Center
2060 N Marine Dr
Portland, OR 97217
This will be a huge sale. Please note the change in location, we are not in Hillsboro anymore! There will be a botanical display table, bring your clematis in bloom, books for sale by HPSO and a lot more space. This is always a wonderful time to learn about plants. More information to follow but the choice spots to volunteer do go fast.

Volunteers will be needed. Contact: Susan Toler sst0916@hotmail.com or 503-642-5528

April 27, 2008
Clematis Celebration
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Joy Creek Nursery
20300 NW Watson Road
Scappoose, OR 97056
This will be one of two dates set aside for the Clematis Celebration held at Joy Creek Nursery (the other date is September 14). It will be a one-day event on Sunday. The speaker/s at this event are to be announced but the topic is set. We, FRCC and Joy Creek Nursery, will be featuring the atragene group, C. alpina and C. macropetalas to name two. There will be a display table for your early blooming botanicals. We will have yummy cookies and a warm or cool beverage (depending on the weather) provided by Joy Creek. This is a wonderful time for volunteers to get a great education by assisting clematis aficionados first hand.

Joy Creek will once again graciously extend a 10% discount on clematis sold to FRCC members and will also donate 10% of clematis sales to FRCC. Thank you Joy Creek!

For more information: www.joycreek.com www.rogersonclematiscollection.org or sst0916@hotmail.com

May 3 & 4, 2008
Canby Plant Sale (Phyllis McCanna to coordinate)
Please put these dates on your calendar, as we will need your help in our booth. This is always a great sale with lots of wonderful vendors. Annuals, perennials, heirloom vegetables and experts are available.

May 24th
Open Gardens*
Memorial Weekend
West Side: Diana Lamb, Mike Snyder, and Susan Toler
East Side: Linda Beutler, Margie Adams, Fred & Lucy Hardiman
This will be a fundraiser for FRCC so stay tuned for a very exciting Saturday!
Contact: Lucy Hardiman or Susan Toler sst0916@hotmail.com or 503-642-5528

Propagation from cuttings* Date to be announced

July
Field trip, Ideas? Kinzy Fair. We tried to do this one July but it was really hot that weekend. Show and Tell at Luscher Farm with a picnic under the Beech Tree? Stay tuned, visit our web site and watch for e-mails and newsletters.

August
Rest time but not a bad time to have an evening program at S.M.I.L.E. Perhaps Champoeg Agriculture or some great gardener visiting Portland (not that we don’t have a lot of wonderful gardeners here too!)

Sept. 14
Clematis Celebration
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Joy Creek Nursery
20300 NW Watson Road
Scappoose, OR 97056

This will be the second of two dates set aside for the Clematis Celebration held at Joy Creek Nursery (the other date was April 27). It will be a one-day event on Sunday which is the same weekend as Tour de Plants. The speaker at this event will be Linda Beutler and the topic is Late Summer and Repeat Blooming Clematis. There will be a display table for your late blooming botanicals. We will have yummy cookies and a warm or cool beverage (depending on the weather) provided by Joy Creek. This is a wonderful time for volunteers to get a great education by assisting clematis aficionados first hand.

Joy Creek will once again graciously extend a 10% discount on clematis sold to FRCC members during the event and will also donate 10% of those clematis sales to FRCC. Thank you Joy Creek!

For more information: www.joycreek.com www.rogersonclematiscollection.org or sst0916@hotmail.com